ScrapBusters: Mason Jar Wraps

Editor: Liz Johnson

Friday, 20 June 2014 1:00

Grandma would be so proud. The humble Ball mason jar has become the chicest way to sip a cool summer drink. But as with all glassware, condensation beads up quickly on the outside of the jars, causing your grip to slip. A jar wrap absorbs condensation, makes the jar easier to handle, and looks super cute. Our design features cotton on the exterior and knit on the interior. As a ScrapBusters project, we show you how to create pretty striped accent bands from a few fave pieces of leftover fabric.

2014 is the 100th anniversary of the Ball "Perfection" jar. In honor of this, you can buy both pint and quart Ball mason jars this summer in two limited edition vintage colors: Spring Green and Heritage Blue in addition to the standard clear. Our wraps feature bright colors against white and looked great against all the jar colors.

This is is a super fast and easy project, and we offer a pattern download below. It's sized for a standard pint Ball mason jar, which has a circumference of 10¼", but you can adapt the pattern to fit a Ball quart mason jar by slicing the pattern vertically at the center and adding 2-1/16". For other brands or sizes of jar, measure and adapt to best fit your option.

By piecing together random widths of fabric into a finished panel (called a strata in quilting parlance), you can then quickly slice as many 1" strips as you need for however many wraps you make. It's a great assembly line type of construction. Our design uses three strips per wrap.

The array of colors and designs are further randomized by off-setting the strips prior to stitching them in place.

Each wrap finishes at approximately 11¾" x 3⅞", which includes an approximate 1½" Velcro® overlap.

All purpose thread to match fabric and elasticNOTE: We used the thread matching the elastic (turquoise) as our contrasting thread for topstitching the strips and adhering the Velcro®.

See-through ruler

Fabric pen or pencil

Seam gauge

Seam ripper

Scissors or rotary cutter and mat

Iron and ironing board

Straight pins

Getting Started

Download and print out our one pattern sheet: Mason Jar Wrap Pattern.IMPORTANT: This pattern is ONE 8½" x 11" sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. There is a guide rule on the page so you can confirm your final printout is to scale.

Cut out the two pieces along the solid line. Butt together, do not overlap, Piece 1 and Piece 2 along the center line, as indicated by the arrows on the pattern. Tape together to create the full pattern.

The three finished strips are cut at 1" wide, so you need at least 4" in length per jar wrap. The extra inch is to allow a bit of inconsistency top and bottom. These wraps are easiest to make in multiples, so for our three samples, we cut our scraps into 12" lengths of various widths.

The illustration below shows the width pattern we used to achieve a pleasing random mix. You can certainly adjust as you'd like to best fit your own design. These FOURTEEN widths include a horizontal allowance for ¼" seams. The resulting finished width allows extra inches so the three strips can be offset against the wrap.

We cut the following fourteen strips:From the solid turquoise, THREE 12" lengths: TWO at 3½" and ONE at 1".From the purple print, THREE 12" lengths: ONE at 1½", ONE at 2" and ONE at 1".From the solid sage green, THREE 12" lengths: ONE at 2" and TWO at 1½".From the solid raspberry, THREE 12" lengths: ONE at 1", ONE at 3½" and ONE at 1½".From the orange print, TWO 12" lengths: ONE at 3½" and ONE at 1".

Using the pattern, cut ONE from the cotton (or similar) for the wrap front.

Using the pattern, cut ONE from the knit (or similar) for the wrap back.

Using the pattern, cut ONE from the interfacing.

Cut the fold-over elastic in ONE 27" length.

Lay out your strips side by side, following our diagram above or your own color and pattern blend.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Create the fabric panel from which to cut the strips

Working in order, we chose from left to right, assemble the strips to build your fabric panel. To do this, start with the first two strips in the sequence. Place these strips right sides together and pin in place. Place the next strip in the sequence right sides together with the two-strip piece. Continue in this manner to pin together all the strips.NOTE: Because the length of the strips is rather short, we simply pinned the strips together at the top corners. This was enough to hold them in place in the correct order. Once under the presser foot, it was easy to hold the strips together by hand to finish each short seam.

Create and place the strips

Place the finished panel right side up and flat on your cutting surface.

Cut horizontal strips from the panel. You need three 1" strips per wrap.

Slide the three strips to the left and right to offset the blocks of color.

Place the wrap pattern over the off-set strips at the section you find the most pleasing.

Trim away the excess strip fabric.

You now how three, nicely random strips cut to the perfect length.

Place the pattern piece underneath the front fabric panel. The pattern's marked horizontal lines should be visible through the fabric. Using your ruler and fabric pen or pencil, trace each of the lines.

You should have three horizontal lines running across the panel.

Find your three accent strips. Fold back and press each long edge of each strip ¼".

Align the top edge of each strip along a drawn line. If you have no directional motifs, the "top" edge can be either side. Simply pick a side, then make sure you align the top edge of each strip; this insures the correct spacing.

Open up each aligned folded edge slightly and pin in place across the crease line.

Stitch each strip in place, running the seam along the crease line.

Fold down all three strips. The seams now become the top finished edge of each strip. Pin the bottom folded edge of each strip in place. Set aside.

Layer and wrap the panels

Find the back panel (the knit in our sample) and the interfacing panel. Following manufacturer's instructions, fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric. This provides stability and helps keep the knit from stretching too much.

Place the fused back panel wrong side up on your work surface. Place the top panel (with the strips pinned in place) right side up on top of the back panel, sandwiching the interfacing between the layers. Pin the layers together.

Re-thread the machine with contrasting thread (we used aqua to match the fold-over elastic).

Edgestitch the strips in place along the bottom edge of each strip. You are stitching through both the front and back layers.

Find the 27" length of fold-over elastic. Join the ends on the bias. To do this, place the ends together at a right angle.

Stitch across the right angle at a diagonal and trim back the seam allowance to ⅛".

Find the center of the main panel. Place the elastic's seam at the bottom center point. (remember, the edgestitched side of each strip is the bottom - this is how you can tell the bottom of the panel).

Pin the elastic to the outer edge of the panel, wrapping from the front...

... evenly around to the back.

Edgestitch the elastic in place all around, being careful to catch both the front and the back in this one seam.

Cut the Velcro® to a 2" length. Peel apart.

Place the loop (the soft side) at the right side of the panel back. It should be centered top to bottom just inside the sewn elastic. We positioned so the corners of the Velcro® actually tucked under the elastic. Stitch in place around all four sides of the Velcro®. We continued to use our contrasting thread. You can see the box from the right side so you want it to be neat. If you choose this same technique, take the time to make a nice box with a clean lock stitch to start and stop your seams, or leave the thread tails long and knot to secure.

Wrap the panel around your pint jar to confirm the position of the opposite side of the Velcro®. You want a snug fit.

With your overlap confirmed, pin the hook (the rough side) at the left side of the panel front, then stitch in place as you did above.